That is further proof, said two-time European Footballer of the Year Keegan, that no player can take their place for granted under Fergie.

"That has come out numerous times, not just with Wayne. No-one is indispensable," said Keegan. "United are not a one- man team and I don't think they ever have been a one-man team in their successful years.

"One guy might have to get player of the year - that's going to happen - but one-man teams don't win anything.

"You need five or six top-class players to win something and they have got something - and Rooney is one of them."

Speaking at Soccerex in Manchester, Keegan added: "It doesn't matter what I think [about Rooney being left out against Real].

"Sir Alex viewed it as tactically his best team on the night. And he was proved right, but for a very poor decision by the referee [Nani's dismissal] changed the game.

"We would have probably been talking about a tactical masterstroke had Nani not been sent off and the game had continued the way it was going.

"Up to that point, it had worked. Danny Welbeck did a great job in there. So the message from United, as it always has been, that no one player is bigger than the club."

On the Wayne: Fergie has seen Rooney struggle with form and fitness

Despite Ferguson's public insistence that Rooney will stay, PSG are poised to test that resolve with a summer bid.

Rooney has spent chunks of the season injured, out with various ailments or beset by patchy form, and Ferguson has repeatedly made reference to the fact the player needs several games following a spell out before he gets up to speed.

But Keegan said: "People are saying Rooney's had a hit and miss season, but how many goals has he got? I can remember having great seasons for Liverpool and not getting 16 goals.

"So what are you going to judge him on? Performance? I've seen games when he has still carried United, but maybe now he doesn't have to do it every week.

"And Wayne's best position for me is not right up front anyway. It's getting involved in the game form a deeper position.

"The effect van Persie has had on Rooney is that United have won a championship. Rooney is not playing second fiddle to van Persie.

"To win things, you have to have more than one main striker. When United were at their best during my time managing clubs was when they had Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov.

"They all used to come at you. When you're a mid-table team, you can manage one, sometimes manage two. But when they have three or four, you run out of good defenders."